Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!news.cs.indiana.edu!noose.ecn.purdue.edu!mentor.cc.purdue.edu!descartes.math.purdue.edu!mad
From: mad@descartes.math.purdue.edu (Michael A. Dritschel)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: SPOTTING SCOPE RECOMMENDATIONS NEEDED
Message-ID: <12030@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>
Date: 8 May 91 00:03:16 GMT
References: <72035@microsoft.UUCP> <1991May3.130407.9279@verdix.com> <MISAN.91May6164830@ra.abo.fi>
Sender: news@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
Lines: 30
In-reply-to: misan@ra.abo.fi's message of 6 May 91 13:48:30 GMT

I would like to recommend yet another spotting scope, and that is the
one made by Celestron.  It has a 90mm (3 and 1/2 inch) aperature and
an effective focal length of, I believe, 600mm, yet is only about
350mm (14in)long with the sun shade.  This short length is achieved
with mirrors, rather than the usual lenses.  Various eyepieces are
available, and they are a standard size, so if you can easily find
different oculars for purposes other than birdwatching that you may
want to use the scope for, such as star gazing.  I generally use ones
that gives a magnifications of 30x and 40x.  There is a smaller scope
with cross hairs piggyback and aligned with the larger one for finding
and centering things. Celestron also makes a nice sturdy tripod.  I
think the scope can be had for about $400 and the tripod for an
additional $80 (It's been several years since I bought mine, so I
don't recall the exact figures---look in some of the amatuer astronomy
magazines like Sky and Telescope or Astronomy to find the best mail
order deal).  They also have adaptors so that the scope can be used as
a telephoto lens.  I think the optics are quite good.  I have mainly
used it for shore birds, prefering binoculars elsewhere.  

Annika Forsten mentions in her posting on this subject that most
people find it impossible to use magnifications greater than 12x
without a tripod.  I have found there to be an exception with
binoculars and a steady hand.  I had borrowed an old pair of Zeiss
20x50 binoculars from a friend for a while and found them to be quite
nice to use, though it took a little getting used to.  On top of that
they were quite heavy.  I haven't quite been able to justify the
enormous cost of these things new, otherwise I would buy a pair myself
(my friend got his at a house sale for $80).

Michael Dritschel   mad@math.purdue.edu